Bloomberg.com – By Bill Faries
(Bloomberg) – Transvestite prostitutes working one of Buenos Aires’s toniest neighborhoods are squaring off against wealthy residents who say they shouldn’t ply their trade in a public park where children romp.
By day, the Rosedal, or rose garden, is a favorite destination for parents taking their children to amble around a lake, buy popcorn and rent rowboats. At dusk, transvestites wearing tank tops, knee-high boots and shorts saunter in, waving and winking at drivers in passing cars.
“No one likes to do this work,” said Victoria, 23, a blond transvestite who declined to give a last name. “We do it because we have to.”
Residents of the adjacent Palermo neighborhood complain about the prostitutes, said Juan Manuel Velasco, the city’s environment minister. The enclave, once home to writer Jorge Luis Borges and revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara, is dotted with embassies and ambassadors’ residences.